As previously noted in my post on crazy Pringles, I love finding unusual flavors of familiar products. At some point several years ago, I learned that Japan is home to numerous flavors of KitKats, none of which make an appearance in the U.S. I found some for sale on ebay, but was unwilling to pay $13 for one candy bar ($3 for the bar and $10 for shipping, or something absurd like that) in order to actually try them.

So my tasting experience with unusual KitKats didn’t happen until I flew through Tokyo on my way home for Christmas. I had completely forgotten about their existence until I wandered through an airport store during my layover. I felt like a kid in a candy store, which I pretty much was. I think I spotted the Wasabi KitKats first, followed by a variety pack combining Apple, Cheesecake, Soybean Flour, and Soy Sauce bars. A trip through another aisle of the store revealed a Green Tea flavor, as well. I bought them all.

Wasabi KitKat

Hold on a second, you’re saying. Wasabi? Soy Sauce? In a KitKat? That sounds disgusting! Yes, I agree. But it was too bizarre to ignore. The tastiness (or lack thereof) of these flavors is at least aided by the fact that they don’t involve chocolate. Rather, the coating over the wafers is wasabi or soy-sauce flavored. (The green tea is similar in that it does not have chocolate. The Apple, Cheesecake, and Soybean Flour flavors, on the other hand, were incorporated into the chocolate.)

Green Tea KitKats

So what did they taste like? Much like the lemon-sesame and blueberry-hazelnut Pringles, I would not have known what I was supposed to be eating if it had not been pictured on the package. The wasabi coating was light green and I suppose had a bit of a zing to it, but not much. The soy sauce coating was white and slightly sweet instead of salty, like I was expecting. It tasted more like medicine than soy sauce, although that’s probably a good thing. (The Apple, Cheesecake, and Soybean flour flavors were much tastier. I’m not sure if it was the chocolate, or the fact that they are more traditional Western dessert flavors. Probably both.)

Since Singapore isn’t that far away from Japan, relatively speaking, and we get crazy Pringles flavors, I’ve been keeping an eye out for special KitKat flavors. A few weeks ago, my friend Juliana saw an article in the paper about Raspberry-Passionfruit and Matcha-Sakura (Green Tea-Cherry Blossom) KitKats for sale in a small Japanese food store.

That weekend we decided to go KitKat hunting. Sadly, we discovered that other hunters had exhausted the supply before our arrival. We even saw proof that the KitKats had been there – cardboard boxes in the trash, but there were none left for us, and the sales clerk didn’t know if/when they would be getting anymore in. They did have bags of Maple-flavored and Flan-flavored KitKats, but I didn’t feel like spending $9 on a bag.

Maple and Flan KitKats

I also found an online reference to sweet potato-flavored KitKats available in Bishan. My love of sweet potato is akin to my love of pumpkin, but I unfortunately haven’t had time yet to trek out there and check it out. Given our failed attempt to procure other exotic flavors in Singapore, my hopes for finding the sweet potato ones aren’t high, but I will nevertheless venture out there soon. If they exist, I will definitely post a review.